Well construction.



P. E. VAUGHAN & S. M. HALSTEAD.

WELL CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 13. ISIS.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

TI6URL4.

FIGURE 1 of constructing one. v

PERCY E. VAUGHAN AND STANLEY ZML. HAL STEAD, OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA.

WELL CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

App1ication filed March 13, 1918. Serial IBM/222,150.

To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that we, PERCY E. VAUGHAN and STANLEY M. HALSTEAD, citizens of the United States, and residents of San Jose, in the county of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Well Construction, of which the following is a lstpecification.

Our invention relates spec cally to a new and useful method of constructing wells preparatory to equipping the same with deep well pum s.

The di%culties attending upon the construction of deep wells, especially in those locations where the well must pass through a succession of 'beds of materialsof-widely varying qualities such as clay, quicksand, gravel, etc., are numerous and have never been satisfactorily overcome. Briefly stated,

these difi'iculties are set forth in the follow-' ing paragraph. p

In one of the commonly accepted methods a well under the conditions indicated above, the well is first drilled then a casing of substantially the same diameter as the well is inserted, the sections being joined by a screw and. socket joint and the casing is then perforated under-ground with various types of perforators. In this method of construction the tool used in perforating the casing frequently becomes jamme'd'in place, and parts are dropped in the well, causing expense and delay in recovery; the perforations are'imperfect and frequently improper ly distributed and cannot be inspected; water can only make its way into the casing directly opposite the bearing strata; the perforations become clogged'by the accumulation of clay and sand. Inasmuch as the bore must be of slightly larger diameter than the casing inserted in order to allow the coupling or clearance, the

sand and clay settling from the upper strata and clogging the perforations opposite the water-bearing strata. In irrigation wells where large volume of water is the aim collar of the casing free danger is-ever present of silt,

sought, the velocity at which the water must the small number i enter the casing through ills.

labor and require I Another commonly accepted method of 'dicated above,

until the desired depth and loose bowlders.

of perforations which it is feasible to obtam by under-ground perforating precludes the-use of light casing and seriously affects the lasting qualities of heavycasing, often causing collapsed wells and their attendant We are aware that various forms. of screened casing have been produced that are set in bores of greater diameter than the casing itself, but these are expensive and are subject to some of'the faults above'set forth, for while they may be sufliciently strong and sufliciently perforated they are excessively expensive and clogged when inserted under the above method. All of the forms now used require the presence of a certain amount of skilled constant supervislon.

constructing a well under the conditions inis to use a percussive drill of. some acceptable form and drive the blank casing'as the well is being drilled, keeping the .same at or near the bottomof the hole is reached, after which it is perforated under groundin the usual manner. The main draw back in this method of constructing. a well is the unusual care and supervision necessary to obtain a relatively straight well through the mixed-formations of hard and soft material A perpendicular and comparatively straight casing is a necessity for the proper installation of a deep well pump. Another limitation of this method of constructing a well practice the hole is drilled substantially smaller than the inside diameter of the easing which is being inserted, this being necesbecome easily v is that in ordinary the casing which come the difficulties above set forth, and to provide a method of deep well construction that will be comparatively easy and simple to install, and that will be permanent, effective, satisfactory and efficient.

By our method we decrease the velocity of inflow of water at any one point by providing a multitude of small openings, and further augment the possibilities for the inflow of water into the well by making a bore considerably larger than the casing therein inserted, and protect the walls of the bore from caving and deterioration, at the same time allowing for the free inflow of water from the different strata from a larger area.

With these and other objects in view our invention consists in the novel and useful improvements which are hereinafter set forth and pointed out in the claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which v Figure 1 is a vertical section through a deep well illustrating our improved method make a cylindrical bore 1 to the required depth, which may be upward of a thousand feet or more. This bore will pass through a succession of strata of various kinds, which A continuation of this process through thick-f may be designated formally as loose and.

fixed strata. "The fixed or substantially solid portion being indicated at 2 and the loose, gravelly portion being indicated at 3. In making this bore we use a pipe 1, the lower end of which has been previously provided with a bit 5 of suitable size for making the bore in question, this pipe being provided with a suitable mechanism for turning the same in a horizontal plane indicated in a formal way at 6 and .7, and any suitable lowering mechanism to keep the bit 5 in contact with the formation encountered and not shown in the drawing. When'this drilling mechanism is in operation water under pressure is forced into the upper end of pipe 4 in any suitable manner aS by;a pump 8, ofwhich the operatin mechanism is not shown, and out through orifice 9 in bit 5 in the usual manner, and in contending to equalize passes upwardlyand discharges at the top as at 10.

As the erosive'action of the water and the rotative action of the bit combined wears the formatlon away this water is caught insome suitable receptacle, as'-11, at the top of the ground and, after allowing the coarse particles to settle, is used over and over again.

nesses of varying formation tends to keep the liquid a great deal thicker and heavier than water, and owing to the pressure and weight of the liquid under normal working conditions, it penetrates unsolidified strata to a depth as at 12 in Fig. 2, suflicient to hold u the walls long enough to finish the bore and insert the casing 15 therein. The erosionefi'ected by this liquid is naturally very uneven; it affects the more solid parts, as 2, but little, but the looser formations, as 3, are excavated more rapidly. Assuming that .one of the beds is composed of quick-sand, as- 3 in Fig. 2, this would of course first fall away around the edge by force of gravity as indicated at 13, then the moving liquid cuts it away slightly as indicated at 14. Since the liquid is carrying more or less of the more cohesive materials such as clay and fine sand as the wall 14 ceases to wear away it gradually receives a more or less thick covering of said clay like material and fine sand which serves to establish: a more stable wall than would otherwise be secured.

, We now have a series of enlarged reservoirs which we utilize in the following'manner. The casing 15'having been previously perforated asat 16, and of considerable less diameter than the bore 1 in which it is placed and having the joints of the several abutting ends of the sections welded as indicated at 17 or riveted or'otherwise connected so as then lowered into the bore in the usual manner. Then a pipe of smaller diameter than the casing 15, as 18, having a plunger 19 with a suitable back-pressure valve 20 arranged on the lower end of the same, is inserted in the casing 15 to a point ator near .the bottom of the well. Water under pressure is then forced into the upper end of pipe 18 in any suitable manner and is forced through the perforations 16 in casing 15 below the bottom of the plunger, and in seeking an outlet passes upwardly and discharges at the top as indicated at 21. The erosion effected by this flowing water is comparatively small unless the pipe 18 is agitated.

This action tends to. keep the space between I the casing 15 and the bore 1- free and open except in a space at or near the plunger 19.

When the water discharged from the top of the well indicates that the proper time has arrived, that is the liquid is not too thick to prevent the gravelfrom working'down through it,.or so thin that the gravel does I not meet with enough resistance to cause it tomove slowly, or that the unconsolidated portions of the walls of the bore may start to cave, then a continuous stream of coarse, clean gravel as indicated at 22 is fed into the top 0 the bore 1 around casing 15. The

, upwardly moving fluid assists in working of the casing to the bottom of the bore where it fills the voids formed as above described.

1 The narrow space surrounding the casing 15, such as 23, is of course easily filled but it is found that this process alone is insuflicient toentirely fill the larger chambers 24 where a considerable amount of loose material has been washed away. In order to fill these spaces satisfactorily, we utilize the plunger 19 and pipe 18 to which it is attached and which is operated intermittently within the casing 15. Upon dropping the plunger a distance, as 18, water is forced violently out through the orifices 16 and consequently agitates the surrounding water and its contents. This agitation breaks down the clay solution previously deposited as at 12, and carries the grave filled.

Assuming" that water has been found in the various strata, the well drilled and the casing positioned, and the gravel deposited substantially as indicated in the drawing. The gravel envelop around casing 15 being continuous the water is enabled to make its way upwardly until into tha'e spaces unti I A light pipe may be used because the gravel is deposited uniformly around it and throughout its length I thereby subjecting it to a substantially umform ressure, and at the same time preventing t e caving m of 3 jof surrounding formation.

. chambers 24 permit the heavier bodies The enlarged the passage of a larger amount of water than small chambers be- 5 face, the filling of cause of their greater area of discharge surgravel offering but little obstruction to the passage of thewater.

While we have herein described in detail specific methods of effecting our invention,

it is conceivable that other methods of satis .factorily placing the gravel around the easing may be devised, and the use of the plungernot always found necessary, and the casing might even be perforated after being placed in position but the methods described are considered by us to be the most desirable. The word gravel as used in this specification is intended to include any 1. The method of constructing a well through strata of varying density, which 1 into said chambers it finds its level and to flow into the perforated casing throughout I that whole distance.

by agitating said bore,

consists in drilling the well, positioning therein a casing of less. diameter than the of said casing, agitating saidwater by means operated within said'casing thereby formingchambers in the strata of least density, and feeding gravel into the space between said casing and the wall of the well and while said'water' is be-- ing agitated. t

3. The method of constructing a well which consists in drilling the well, inserting therein a-perforated casing of less diameter than the well, forcing water into the well through said casing and thence out of the well on he exterior of said' casing, and simultaneously introducing {gravel to fill the space surrounding said casing while said water is flowing and agitating said water at successively ascending intervals. substantially corresponding with the rlslng level of the gravel.

4. The method of constructing a well which consists in drilling the well, positioning therein a perforated casing of less diameter than the well and having a substantially uniform exterior surface, removing excess material from the exterior of said casing by hydraulic means, and filling the space between said casing and the wall of the well with gravel and settling said gravel the water in which it is placed. 5. The method of constructing a well which consists in drilling the well, positioning therein a casing of less diameter'than' the well and having a substantially uniform exterior surface providing orificesin said casing, removing excess-material from the space surrounding said casing by hydraulic means, and fillingif'said space with gravel and simultaneously. operating a plunger in said casing to agitate the water in which said gravel isplaced.

6. A deep well construction'comprising a substantially cylindrical and vertical bore having enlarged chambers formed in the water bearing strata through which said bore passes, a perforated casing of less diameter than said bore positioned therein,-

and an envelop of gravel deposited in the space between saidcasing and the wall of and in said'chambers, and substantially filling the same.

7.. The method of constructing a well which consists in drilling the well and forming enlarged chambers 1n the Water bearing strata through which said Well passes, by hydraulic means, inserting in said Well a casing of less diameter than said well, and filling the space around said casing, and said chambers, with gravel, the said casing havingorifices formed therein to permit the v meaaao passage of water therethrough, and opera'tmg a plunger in said caslng during the 10 placing of said gravel.

Signed at San Jose, in the county of Santa Clara and State of California, this 6th day of March, 1918.

PERCY E. VAUGHAN. STANLEY M. HALSTEAD. 

